Not Wisely, But Too Well
by Unprecedented Power Apple
Summary: A collection of Jade/Peony pseudo-drabbles, with topics lifted from the 100 Prompts challenge.
1. Beginnings and Ends

A/N: Exactly as it says on the tin. We took the 100 Prompts list and divided it into pairs, then wrote a pseudo-drabble (because neither of us is good at keeping to length requirements) for each. Each chapter is a pair, with one half written by A and the other by Khel.

**1. Beginning/3. End**

It began when Jade no longer had use for one of his test subjects but felt he should keep tabs over it in case of unforeseen long term effects. So Jade gave Peony the rappig, claiming that since the emperor's heir already lived in such a rappig sty, he might as well have one. Jade thought vaguely that he'd check on the rappig every so often from whatever servant was assigned to care for it, and that that would be the end of that. He didn't expect Peony to declare the rappig was cute and would make a great pet. Didn't expect Peony to decide to name it after him. Didn't expect Peony to care for the rappig himself. Didn't expect Peony to get more. And this… Jade turned to the man beside him. "Your Majesty, why is there a rappig in MY bedroom?"

* * *

It ended quickly, and, despite Peony's never-ending accusations of animal cruelty, the thing wasn't seriously hurt from being ejected from Jade's second story window. It skittered off, grunting mournfully, as Jade smirked, adjusting his glasses and waiting for the impending explosion.

It came like one of Jade's own Infernal Prisons, flaring up suddenly over Peony's normally placid demeanor. Deeming it safe enough, (he heard it all a hundred times before) he tuned Peony out as he attempted to make some sense of the ruin that was his desk a few hours ago.

About five minutes later, Jade noticed that Peony's tirade was even less coherent than usual.

"…and the delegates from Sheridan wont even be at the summer festival, so serving the raspberry wine is right out, and—"

"Peony? What in Lorelei's name are you talking about?"

The emperor-to-be looked at him, grinned broadly, and burst into laughter.

"I was wondering when you'd notice. I was about to run out of ideas."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Well, the bureaucrats just wouldn't get off my back today, so I decided to come mess with you a little."

Jade twitched slightly. "And the rappig?"

"You don't recognize Saphir? I'm sure you've thrown him through at least three windows by now. I think he likes it."

This time, it was Peony who made his exit through the window.


	2. Red and Blue

A/N: We now see the difference between when Khel starts one of these and when A does.

**11. Red/15. Blue**

There's the obvious comparison, the one he and everyone who gets a good look at him can't get from their minds: blood. That isn't entirely accurate though. It's the red of a sunrise that sailors fear: numinous but as yet far off, a danger that holds itself back at the moment though not forever.

When he gets this particular kind of philosophical, which, granted, isn't often, Peony tries to interject more flattering comparisons. Pressed forehead-to-forehead and pretending they don't scare him, Peony will look into his eyes for what seems like hours, listing off red thing after red thing until either he runs out of inspiration or one of them is called away (a tragically frequent end to their meetings).

He always ends on the same one, though, in what he obviously thinks is a neat, albeit saccharine, counterpoint to Jade's gloomier suggestion: a perfect sunset, closing out a long day and promising peace to follow. Because Jade would not disturb him any more than he already has, he keeps quiet, but cannot stop thinking that promises are so frequently broken and that, after the night, morning is sure to follow.

* * *

It was everywhere. The sky, the water, the uniforms, even the inner walls of the building and the decorations at the bar, everything in Malkuth, Grand Chokmah at least, seemed to revolve around the color blue. Peony loved it, as blue was by far his favorite color. Being able to see the blue sky, instead of the never-ending white and grey clouds, being surrounded by moving water, instead of frozen, still felt like a novelty after Ketterburg. Really, after the white snow city, Peony felt he would never get tired of seeing blue around him. And he grinned when seeing the blue in his outfits reflected from the windows. But on the lonely nights, when finally given time to stop and rest, he'd glance at the mirror, and wish red eyes, not blue, were staring back.


	3. Weeks and Months

**8. Weeks/ 9. Months**

"I thought you said you'd be gone with Ion for only a couple weeks?" Peony inquired, lounging in his throne. Jade was the only one left in the room, the others having left for the inn or been dismissed.

"Circumstances changed, Your Majesty."

"I know that Jade! But weeks, you said! Weeks! You were supposed to go to Baticul, deliver my letter and return with the answer, not go and make everyone think you died!" Peony pouted.

"Considering the circumstances, there was no other choice. You knew it could take a long time when you sent me on this mission."

Peony sighed, stood up, and lost his childish expressions for the first time that day. "Jade, it's been months since I've seen you last…" He moved forward to wrap his arms around Jade and then placed his head on Jade's shoulder. "And I missed you."

* * *

If it had been any other day, Jade would have resisted, holding his position until Peony was shamed into keeping his distance, or rallied for another attempt. But it has been months, a whole season, really, since he had set out from Grand Chokma. He breaths in deep the smell of Peony's hair, overlooking the fact that most of it is the smell of rappigs, truly, and he can feel himself relax into Peony's hold.

It's a terrifying thing that Peony does, though it has never occurred to most people that he would be capable of inspiring fear; all artless enthusiasm and wide eyes, until Jade is entangled in his arms (or his sheets) with little idea as to why he is there, and less guarded that he has ever been around anyone else. To the logical part of Jade's brain, which is almost all of it, this is the worst possible outcome; he knows too well what he is capable of if his control slips. He is a monster, and it takes a little more than Peony can offer to make him forget that.

But it has been so long—so many months sleeping outside or in some backwater inn, always alone—that logic doesn't matter quite as much as it should.


	4. Breakfast and Dinner

A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update, this is entirely my (Khel's) fault this time; I got distracted by roommate drama. Anyway, here's another one I started!

**56. Breakfast/58. Dinner**

Some people's favorite meal is Lunch, some it's dinner. For Peony, it was breakfast. When he was little, it had been lunch when he ate with Neblim's class, or dinner if he managed to sneak off and have it with the Balfour siblings. But now, dinner was taken with the Court, and lunch was normally just a sandwich grabbed on the run between meetings. Breakfast, however, was his own. No one watching his every move, judging. As long as he woke up early enough, no one trying to hurry him along. He was able to relax, just himself and his rappigs. Unless, of course, he invited someone to join him…

"Jade!" Peony poked the sleeping man "Jade! Get up! I want breakfast, and you're coming with me!"

* * *

Jade blinked once, reached for his glasses, and sat up, scowling. He thought about refusal (well, to be honest, he thought about fireballs), but quickly realized it wasn't an option. Peony was in one of _those_ moods, and Jade had not gotten nearly enough sleep to put up much of a fight. He'd been editing his most recent book until about half an hour ago, when he'd lain down on the couch in his office in hopes of catching a few hours of sleep. Really, the breakfast Peony was all-but-dragging him to was more like dinner for the increasingly nocturnal Jade.

He followed him, though, absorbing the quiet of the city and letting it dissolve his irritation. The moments when the two of them could be alone together were increasingly scarce, and perhaps this was worth losing some sleep. But all bets were off if the food wasn't good.


	5. Too Much and Not Enough

**33. Too Much/ 34. Not Enough**

Peony very seldom does anything by halves, and this is what Jade finds hardest. When they were young, Peony made it his mission to befriend the strange, quiet boy, despite Jade's best efforts to the contrary. He knows that any humanity, or semblance of it, he now has he owes to him. The radiant, limitless energy Peony is brimful of is unconquerable; like a tidal wave, it drowns him, battering him against the rocks until he surfaces, re-formed.

Recently, Peony has begun applying the pressure again, by touching him when it's not strictly necessary, playing idly with his hair or leaning on his shoulder, by ratcheting his smile up a couple notches until it's just this side of creepy. Jade knows what he's after, and in his heart of hearts wants nothing more than to give it to him, but his thick armor of distance and propriety screams out in protest, and he is forced to retreat lest he shatter entirely.

* * *

"Your majesty, there is no time for games. Please pay attention." Peony pouted, but dropped the hand about to poke Jade, with a muttered "Fine".

Seeing as he was not about to get any more amusement of that sort from Jade, Peony flopped back into a nearby seat, as Jade returned to giving his report. Peony didn't bother to listen; he'd already read Jade's written report on the latest mission, and the spoken report would add nothing. In fact, Peony had only insisted on the private spoken report as another chance for time between the two of them without people interrupting… So instead of listening, he used the time to admire Jade. But Jade always acted like the perfect subordinate, proper and polite, attempting to maintain the distance between them, despite Peony's actions. He blocked every attempt to bring them closer, always maintaining his perfect military façade, rather than allow his emotions to the fore. No matter how cold Jade acted, no matter how much he pretended not to care, it was not enough to make Peony stop courting him.

"Your majesty, are you paying any attention?"

Peony grinned unrepentantly at his Colonel. "Nope! I was too busy admiring how you look in uniform."


	6. Summer and Winter

A/N: Well, we seem to have misplaced the one we wrote between this and the last one, (yay organization) so it will be a bit out of sequence in terms of who is writing the first bit and who is writing the second. A went first in this one.

**63. Summer/61. Winter**

After all these years, Jade is still not used to the weather in Grand Chokmah. Even though it's almost as far north as Keterburg, the ocean carries a current of warmer water up from the south, softening its winters and making its long summers almost tropical.

This prolonged heat is the one thing that can sap Jade's relentless work ethic, and he finds himself alarmingly often in one of the palace gardens with their many fountains, able to do nothing save lean against the cool stone and make idle conversation with Peony. The emperor, in his light cotton clothing and sandals, fares substantially better than Jade, whose uniform was clearly designed for campaigning somewhere more temperate.

His Keterburg breeding invariably shows itself, turning his skin pink within fifteen minutes of being in the sun. Peony, of course, thinks this is hilarious, being tan enough to hold court outdoors all day (as he often does) and suffer no ill effects. There isn't even much Jade can do about it: lying in the shade of the trees, movement seems entirely unappealing. It isn't often that the emperor has him at his mercy like this, and he abuses it shamelessly.

* * *

The first winter Peony spent in Grand Chokmah after living in Keterburg took him by complete surprise. It's not that he woke up one morning and suddenly found the place freezing cold, no—it was that one day he woke up and found his couriers (another thing he was unused to—_his _couriers) complaining it was freezing cold. Peony hadn't noticed at all; he'd just started wearing some of his outfits from Keterburg and continued on with his day—this "freezing" temperature could barely compare with Keterburg's _fall_.

But, when looking around—both at a calendar and at the city—winter was obviously here. The citizens and his couriers (HIS!) were very bundled up—layer upon layer of that same cotton cloth they used the rest of the year (Peony wondered why they didn't just exchange their cotton for wool, sandals for boots, and move on with life). The military men, in their heavy uniforms, seemed more energetic and at ease with their surroundings, and for the first time that year he noticed that the military headquarters weren't ridiculously cold. His Jade had certainly gone back to his workaholic attitude.

But Peony had gotten used to Grand Chokmah's winters since then—now Jade teases him about finding the winters cold.


	7. Days and Years

A/N: Sorry about how sporadic updates have been. We should be much better over the summer, which is coming soon (huzzah!).

**7. Days/10. Years**

"Jade! Jade! You've got to come see!" Peony seemed to pop out of nowhere, making Saphir fall off the bench he was sitting on in surprise, though Jade sat unruffled.

"Peony, what ARE you doing?" Saphir whined as he scrambled up and pushed his glasses back on straight. "We're conducting important scientific experiments here!"

Peony shrugged and grabbed Jade's arm, fully prepared to drag his friend to see whatever had his attention, if Jade didn't go willingly, instantly. Jade sighed and stood up.

"We'll finish this later. Saphir, clean up." Then: "You don't have to pull me!" as Peony had already started to physically drag his friend off. He only stopped when they reached a barn-like shed.

"Peony, why—" Jade started.

"Sh!" Quietly, Peony opened the door and gestured for Jade to follow him. Upon reaching a corner, Peony pointed to a mother rappig and her litter, sound asleep. Sounding awed, he whispered, "Master Kinos said I can have one if they live—they're only a few days old. Aren't they adorable?"

* * *

A few weeks later, Peony once again barged into the room Jade had commandeered for use as a laboratory. He was cradling a tiny rappig in his arms; on getting inside, it jumped down and waddled over to briefly investigate Jade and Saphir before returning to his master, whuffling devotedly.

" I got one!" Peony exulted. Jade didn't even look up, but Saphir glared at him.

"Go away! We're working!"

"Come on! He doesn't even have a name yet." Peony rallied hopefully. "What do you think I should call him?"

Jade kept his eyes on the table, where something small lay twitching. "It's stupid and follows you everywhere, right? Call it Saphir."

The other boy blushed furiously and yelled in protest, but Peony laughed. "Yeah, that's great! And I'll call the next one I get Jade!"

He doesn't stop there, of course, and, years later, his miniature herd of rappigs serves as an accurate record of his life and all the people most important to him: Saphir, Jade, and Nephry, of course, Gelda Nebilim and Aslan Frings. When he receives another from an overenthusiastic admirer, she asks him what he will call it. He considers, tapping the paper of Jade's latest report with one hand. "Luke, I think," he says and smiles.


	8. Sound and Sight

**37. Sound/40. Sight**

Keterburg had been silent, he remembers, back in the days when he was not yet human. The snow, constantly falling, dampened the sounds he made when he was too careless, and it covered his tracks behind him. It was all too easy to carry out his monstrous work in silence, and at that time he would have had it no other way.

It is because of this that he detests silence now: it's nothing so strong as a fear, but he'll still hum atonally, alone in the labs, and the waves he can hear through his open window in Grand Chokmah are always a comfort. The person he once was always seems too near, otherwise.

Obviously, Peony is good for this; the man chatters constantly and, even when he isn't speaking, he fidgets, causing his clothes to rustle because he never had to learn to keep them silent. In Jade's office, (because he goes there to sleep more often than anything else) his slow, even breathing grounds him here and now, keeps the shadows at bay, and Jade loves him for it.

* * *

Normally, Jade was Peony's favorite sight. Awake or asleep, working or relaxed, agitated or calm, Peony always thought Jade was beaut—er, fascinating. Peony would always look favorably on the Curtiss family for adopting Jade and thus giving him a position closer to court, allowing Peony to see him every day. It broke his heart every time military orders made Jade leave the capital, but even if it was just his back walking away, Peony still got to see him…

There was only one way Peony dreaded seeing Jade, only one way to turn his favorite sight into his worst nightmare. Seeing Jade stumbling back from a mission injured and exhausted could move Peony to tears if he allowed himself that luxury. Each time it happened was a reminder that one day, Jade might not return. And that thought Peony could never stand.


	9. Sunrise and Sunset

A/N: Oh man, guys, I'm sorry we left this alone so long. It's not that we haven't been writing, by any stretch of the imagination: we've just been terrible about updating. We're doing our best to not be so awful at it, though! -A

**31. Sunrise/32. Sunset**

"Your Majesty, I thought you said we were going for breakfast?" Jade inquired of the excitable man who was in the process of dragging him out the gates of the Floating City.

"We are going to breakfast!" The emperor grinned unrepentantly.

"Outside the city?"

"Of course! Come on, old man, don't tell me all your military work and joining the Curtiss family has made you lose all your sense of adventure!"

"Sense… of… adventure." Jade sounded more than slightly incredulous. "Your majesty, it's not even light out yet!"

"Of course not! You can't watch the sunrise if the sun's already up! Oh, there it is." Peony proceeded to finish dragging Jade to a just-located blanket and flopped down next to a picnic basket placed there only minutes earlier by one of the castle servants.

"So, Jade, want a cinnamon roll?"

* * *

Some weeks later, it was Jade's turn to catch the emperor's elbow and drag him off to an unknown locale, just after dinner. Peony didn't complain nearly as much: it was seldom enough that Jade broke the bounds of propriety and obligation like this, and he had no desire to dissuade him.

The Curtiss manor was well situated, just inside Grand Chokmah's aquatic defenses with a view of the sea only the palace could match. Jade let himself in through a side door, gesturing for Peony to follow. They climbed the stairs to what Peony knew were Jade's rooms, spacious enough but not as opulent as the family head's.

The doors to his balcony were open, the summer air blowing in with the scent of salt water. The sky was already growing pink and orange, the sun reflected brilliantly on the ocean. Peony stepped out, a smile breaking across his face.

"So this is your revenge for our pre-dawn excursion? You're being far too nice to me, Jade."

Jade smiled back, slowly and easily like he meant it. "Oh, I wouldn't say so. I fully intend to make you work harder than I did then."

Peony was about to respond, to say something to match the fire in his colonel's eyes, when Jade moved in, kissing him full on the mouth and pushing him up against the balcony railing.

He shifted, beginning to kiss back, and reached up to run a hand through Jade's long fine hair—and he was falling, tumbling backwards off the balcony to land noisily in the water below. Jade, standing behind what Peony could now see was a hinged section of rail, hid his laughter behind a gloved hand.

"Surely you couldn't believe we'd just watch the sunset in peace," he called down. "And it is a shame that our servants already closed off our dock for the night. You'll just have to swim back to the palace, I'm afraid."

Peony, already paddling away, sighed through his teeth. This was war.


	10. White and Black

**19. White/18. Black**

Jade, in his more ludicrous moments, insists that he is as "pure as driven snow." Peony knows this is the truth, from a different angle.

The snow on Mt. Roneal was constantly falling, eliminating any trace of the path he'd taken up. The whiteness of it covered the treacherous drop-offs just as cleanly as the safe areas, and it shot back the sunlight in the blazing reflection. Peony learned well he couldn't trust it the first time he snuck off with his friends to the mountain: eager to catch up to the rest of them, more accustomed to the deep snow, he took what looked like a shortcut only to fall several feet, badly twisting his ankle. This time he'd managed to ascend easily enough, but he'd stopped to think under a small overhang and now had no hope of retracing his steps.

He was about to set out randomly, hoping for the best, when Jade appeared, a hunting spear in hand. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Peony shrugged and asked him the same question.

He gestured with the spear. "I needed new subjects and decided to use the wolves up here." It was a lie, but Peony realized that he had found the one true path in a sea of treacherous white.

* * *

Peony was a happy-go-lucky, rappig-obsessed guy. Cheerful, laid-back, and, despite his quick grasp of situations and problems, rarely serious, Peony didn't act at all like people expected an emperor to—and the people loved him for it.

Few people realized it, but Peony also used that lazy attitude as a mask. No one saw him without that mask, for he only ever dropped it when the lights turned off and the night turned black. Only then would he let the pressure get to him, let his sorrows and regrets for his people who had died show through, allow his worries about being the best possible leader for his people overwhelm him. When the darkness has closed in, the world is no longer watching, and Malkuth doesn't need him to be strong.

Peony never allows anyone to see him during this time; he didn't even show this side of him to Nephry when he thought they were in love. Except… Jade. Jade had seen him let himself free in the safety of the darkness. But, then again… his Colonel was always an exception.


	11. Moon and Star

**45. Moon/46. Star**

"Moonlight Demon! Sword Rain Alpha! Final Cross!"

"Guy, what are you doing?"

"Oh, hello, Luke. What are you doing in Grand Chokmah? And I'm training. Crescent Strike!"

"I came to visit and pass on this report on the replicas to Jade. Do you know where I could find him?"

"No, normally he'd be here, but Emperor Peony said Jade would be busy for the next couple hours. Demon Fang!"

"Oh. I guess I'll wait. But… what are you doing?"

"Training"

"Here?"

"Center! Guardian! Yeah."

"But, but… WHY?"

"Emperor Peony told me to. Said something about revenge and falling into the ocean. Tiger Blade!"

"Oh. Okay… But, you know, Jade's going to kill you once he sees his office like this, right?"

* * *

When Jade appeared in the palace gardens the next day, Guy almost dared to hope that he hadn't seen his office, or that someone else had put it back together in his absence. Peony, a little cannier in all things, but especially those involving Jade, saw the warning signs behind the colonel's customary smile.

He approached the chaise Peony had appropriated as a throne, careful to show all the obeisance he knew the emperor hated. "I don't suppose," he asked, "you'd know anything about the state of my office this morning?"

Peony cocked his head to one side, the image of innocent confusion. "Not at all. What happened to it?"

"Oh, nothing serious. Just a little mess." His head snapped to the side, locking eyes with the man trying vainly to control the emperor's rappigs, who had sensed the danger. "Isn't that right, Guy?"

Caught by surprise, Guy sputtered incoherently, and he knew he was lost. Jade only grinned all the wider, assuming a stance he knew far too well from their long travels. By Peony's expression, he knew it as well.

"Oh roar of the earth, bring forth the fangs of the mighty dragon! Ground Dasher!"

The two of them rocketed upwards, shining like stars in the cloudless sky before disappearing entirely.


	12. What and When

**77. What/79. When**

When Jade opened his office door, he stopped to blink in surprise. "What are you doing, Your Majesty?" Jade inquired. Peony had hung out in his office a couple of times before, but never without Jade's presence.

Peony glanced up from the couch he was lounging on. "Well, at this moment I'm looking at a book on the laws of Sheridan," Peony gestured to his book, "since I want to commission a new type of land ship. But I was thinking about taking a nap." Peony grinned, the picture of innocence.

Jade was _not_ amused. "I meant, what are you doing in _my_ office, when I am not here?"

"Oh, that. I'm hiding from the courtiers. 'M tired of hearing about the Truffle Scandal."

"…What?"

"Someone's been getting Countess Janice those incredibly high quality Keterburg truffles, with love notes… Her husband is not amused." Peony dismissed the matter with a lazy wave. "Just thinking about it tires me. I'm gonna take that nap. Are you going to come in or not?"

Jade just shook his head as he went to his desk. While entering his office to find Peony already there was a new development, working through Peony's snores was not.

* * *

As Jade left his office to deliver reports later that day, he caught himself tiptoeing towards the door, picking his way carefully through the whirlwind of clutter that always accompanied Peony, in an attempt not to wake the sleeping emperor.

This was pure nonsense, of course. Peony was the deepest sleeper he'd ever met, and, at any rate, he was still trespassing in Jade's office! Didn't he deserve to be woken up? The colonel paused a moment, wondering when he could have gotten so bad.

His reports delivered, Jade was working through lunch when Peony finally decided to stir, stretching luxuriously over the length of the couch.

"Sleep well, Your Majesty?" Jade asked, sarcasm thick in his voice.

"Of course!" He laughed. "Your couch is so nice, after all." His smile as he spoke—not the usual one, fake as Jade's own, but one that was bright and clear, and, Jade liked to think, reserved for him alone—shone like sunlight, and he was given his answer. The first time he saw that smile, all those years ago: that was when.


	13. Enemies and Lovers

**A/N**: Gosh, we're bad at this whole punctuality thing. I'd try to reassure anyone reading this that we'll get better, but... well, our track record isn't so great. Plus the two of us will be on separate continents come January, and I can't imagine that will help.

...Enjoy?

**22. Enemies/23. Lovers**

Jade's first, selfish thought is that he's glad he wasn't the one hit by the curse seal. There is too much of the boy he once was in him still, too much cold hatred for everyone around him. And Peony, especially…

In those darker days, Peony was too often his enemy, the one person who had not yet learned to keep his distance. The number of times he upended Jade's laboratory in careless exuberance, the number of times Jade had considered poisoning his food or abandoning him on the mountainside, anything just to _get him away_—at any rate he had done all of Malkuth a favor by not stepping in Sync's path.

It's not as though this is all past him, either. Now, surely, he lives and dies for his emperor, but, on the battlefield and in the laboratory, his reputation for casual brutality remains undimmed, and he knows how little he's done to change that. Peony's attentions still make him uncomfortable, for all the guilt and treachery that could be lying underneath his own skin, and he is all the more dumbstruck that Peony is so quick to forget his true nature and love him.

* * *

When Jade asks, honestly confused, what first attracted Peony to him, Peony always has an answer. Jade's amazing intelligence. His striking red eyes and stunning looks. The fact Jade didn't instantly put him on a pedestal because he was the heir (and later, the emperor) but instead treated him like a person. Jade's not trying to use him for money or power. Once, just once, Peony told Jade he saw the loneliness in him, and Peony was attracted to the chance to finally help someone himself, instead of throwing the money he always had at the problem.

But while all of those were reasons Peony wanted Jade's friendship, they were not the true answer to Jade's question. The truth was a secret Peony had never told Jade, and probably never would. It's quite simple, though: Jade is dangerous. For a young Peony, having grown up coddled and protected from all physical danger, it was a thrill as heady as a drug.

Peony loved Jade for so much more now that he often forgot about that original thrill. But Jade's dangerous side, the side Jade seems to dislike about himself, was what first made Peony want him as not just a friend, but also as a lover.


	14. Water and Fire

A/N: We'd actually misplaced this one for a long time, but Khel finally unearthed it. Yaaaaaaaaay~

**51. Water/52. Fire**

Water. Water, water, water… Water everywhere. Peony hadn't thought he'd ever come to dislike the non-frozen version of snow and ice that drove him crazy in Keterburg. But now, sitting alone on his throne in Grand Chokmah, he started to despise it. His palace had always been in the floating capital, and water always surrounded everything in it, but not like now. Now, Malkuth, his kingdom, was at war and his capital had become an impenetrable fortress, thanks to the wall of water. Water everywhere. No one could get in, no one could get out. Peony was trapped in there, safe, but those he cared most about (other than his rappigs) were not. Jade, Aslan—they were out fighting; Nephry—she was out there too… And he was trapped here by his duty and the water; unable to help them, unable to even learn how they were doing… Peony couldn't resent his duty but he could and did resent the water. Water, water, everywhere…

* * *

"Oh Flames of hell, cremate mine enemies in a cage of fire! Infernal Prison!"

The flames swirl around him in a red heat haze, stirring his hair and stinging his eyes with ash. He feels the soldiers surrounding them die, the scent of their charred corpses thick on the air, and he relaxes his hands. This is the state of things far too often, his voice hoarse from constantly casting artes and his step heavy on the scorched earth.

He knows that this is his place, that his duty is to serve Peony here, in the field. Although he only holds the rank of colonel, he more than any general is the emperor's strong arm, going where he would not dare to trust his friend.

He knows this, and would not dream of shirking his duty, but, even so, it weighs on him. The smell of sulfur clings round him, reminding him that he is a demon, well fit for this work. Now, as always, he descends into the abyss to safeguard Peony and strengthen his rule.

Yet Peony is far away, safe in the palace at Grand Chokmah. Jade aches for word from him, but the citadel's walls of water are raised and absolute, and his own cage of fire is just as strong.


	15. Spring and Fall

**62. Spring/64. Fall**

Jade has never really understood the springtime. His childhood in Keterburg, where it never really came, was a convenient enough excuse, but it had been many years since he had left, since he had seen Grand Chokmah's overabundance of plants burst into life for the first time. Partly, he thinks, it's because of fomicry, which only creates things fully-grown and finished, that he cannot appreciate the natural process, with this developmental stage, too fragile to be of any use yet. Really, it's the same reason, the same detachment, that means he doesn't understand death.

This, naturally, doesn't deter Peony in the slightest from forcing him to partake in every seasonal festivity, or from hanging garlands on his head that smell so sweet they attract the bees. It's an obvious comparison, but Peony's like a flower himself, blossoming after the too-long winter into a sort of energy almost offensive in its strength. Keterburg had never suited him.

That blossoming, that overflowing outpouring of life—even if he doesn't understand it, he is nevertheless humbled by it, and ducks to avoid meeting Peony's eyes under the flowering arbor.

* * *

"Wow." It was Peony's first trip to St. Binah, and he was enthralled. Just coming up to the city had been an experience he'd never forget—he'd rarely seen so many trees before, and the _colors_… Still, St. Binah's Great Tree dwarfed them all with its magnificence. The reds and yellows he'd been so admiring on the way in were nothing compared to the crimson and gold, the fire orange that dominated the skyline now.

Peony had never seen anything like it—Keterburg, where he spent most of his life, only had pine trees, and while Grand Chokmah had more trees, the coming of winter only seemed to trigger the change to brilliant colors in a few—most leaves went straight from green to brown, with a brief stop at a sickly yellow—not something to look at and admire. This was different. This was amazing. This finally showed him why some people loved fall, the season where everything seemed to be dying.

As Peony entered the McGovern mansion, he had to wonder if Jade, too, had seen any wonders like this since he had left Keterburg—after all, Jade had left first and would have had more time.


	16. Club and Spade

**49. Club/50. Spade**

Peony and Jade were walking back to Peony's rooms after a council session to go play with the rappigs. Or, more accurately, Peony was dragging Jade to his rooms to go play with the rappigs. But that was quickly forgotten upon reaching Peony's sitting room, where they were greeted by the sight of a giant box by the table. "What in the world…?"

While Peony looked over the box, trying to guess what was inside and what it was doing there, Jade picked up the note on the table, read it, and reported his findings.

"It seems, Your Majesty, that in the box is the replacement set of 4 clubs, replacing a set for which you lost one on Remday." Jade hid his confusion well—normally, Peony would have whined to Jade about losing something like that—but Peony did not.

"I lost a club on Remday? It's a set of clubs? A set of …4 ..clubs… Oh, Lorelei." Peony flopped down in a chair, all thoughts of his rappigs forgotten. "That wasn't what I meant!"

"Oh?"

"On Remday I realized that I lost the 4 of clubs and asked someone to get me a new set… of _cards."_

_

* * *

_

Jade laughed as he levered open the crate, peering at its contents. "They're very well-made, at least."

Peony sighed. "That's good, I suppose, but why would they even think that's what I meant?"

"You do collect weapons, though," he replied, swinging a club experimentally. "It's not an unreasonable assumption to make."

"But—just losing one? I'm not careless enough to do something like that!"

Jade only raised his eyebrows.

"What?" Peony scowled at this tacit accusation."

"Take a look in your bedroom," Jade said. "That should answer your question. I can personally testify to the number of things you've lost in—"

"Fine!"

"—that black hole of yours. Have you found your diadem yet, by the wa—"

"I GET IT. Just stop already! You're making me out to be the foolish one, now!" Peony glared good-naturedly.

"Well, Your Majesty," Jade murmured, and leaned in to kiss him. "I've always believed in calling a spade a spade."


	17. Air and Earth

**54. Air/53. Earth**

With his easygoing demeanor and famous laziness, it's easy to assume that Peony doesn't know how to defend himself. Jade knows better, of course. He's never been quite sure where Peony learned it all, in the intervening years between their childhood in Keterburg and Peony's coronation. He doesn't fight with any style Jade's familiar with: he's not even sure it _is_ a style, really. It works for him, though: in sparring, the two of them are evenly matched. Take away artes and weapons, and Peony has the advantage.

It's a cool fall day, and the wind is strong, whipping their hair and clothes fiercely. Peony had snuck out of his imperial duties for the afternoon, dragging Jade along to their usual place for sparring, a small clearing in Theor Forest. Then, he had insisted he'd only come unarmed because it was so hard to sneak a sword out of the castle, but Jade was canny enough to suspect that he had just wanted to win.

Now, after a few bouts, both are beginning to breathe heavily, though Jade's the only one really showing it. Peony, still light as the air and almost as quick, laughs. "Come on, old man," he calls. "Surely you're not done already."

Jade is proud enough to rise to that. "Of course not, Your Majesty, though I'd like to remind you that this is hardly my area of expertise."

He waves this away with mock impatience. "Yeah, yeah. You ready?"

Jade falls into a fighting stance, then nods, pretending not to notice his partner's savage grin. He's fighting defensively now, blocking or dodging until an opportunity presents itself.

At last one does, and he darts forward to launch a backfist toward Peony's face. He ducks aside—and Jade must have given him some sort of leverage, because he's spinning through the air now, but he can't imagine _when._

He breaks his fall competently, if not expertly, and the wind blows dust in his eyes. Peony is standing over him, smiling.

"And this is all the Battle Master has to offer? Really, Jade, I don't see why you won't let me fight in the Coliseum—unless you're afraid of me taking your title."

* * *

Taunting Jade is never a wise idea, despite how often Peony does it. It's even less wise when sparring, though that doesn't mean Peony will stop. It's the height of stupidity to taunt Jade when sparring in Jade's specialties: fonic artes and bladed weapons. All of this ran through Peony's thoughts in milliseconds as he dodged around the spears of earth from Jade's furious Ground Dasher.

While Peony's weapons work was far better than average, his skills with fonic artes were poor at their very best, and the ability to swing a sword doesn't matter if you can't close in on your opponent. Taunting Jade to the point that he's actually annoyed assures that he won't let up the fonic artes for a moment. And Peony had done that.

As he dove to the earth to avoid Jade's Turbulence, Peony knew he stood no chance of winning this round. That didn't mean he'd take it sitting down, of course.

"Oi, Jade! Are your artes really so slow you can't come close to hitting me? I'm practically standing still here!"


	18. She and He

(haha, I blame this one on the two of us going swing dancing together shortly before writing this set. Also Khel is inexplicably fond of the Luke/Noir pairing.)

**85. She/84. He**

"I'm bored and I hate council meetings. So we're going to do something fun." Peony pondered for a moment. "…Let's go swing dancing!"

Jade looked up from his paperwork curiously. "Your Majesty, it's not proper for you to just disappear for the—"

"Aw, come off it, Jade! It's not like I haven't done it before!"

"Your bodyguards—"

"If you're worried, then you've just been drafted as my bodyguard for the night."

"That's not what I—"

"Come on!" Despite Jade's continued protests, Peony grabbed Jade's arm and proceeded to drag Jade across the city, to Peony's favorite swing dance club.

This wasn't an altogether rare occurrence—Peony loved to dance, if it wasn't at the uptight formal balls where who you danced with and the order you danced with them was just as important as getting the steps right. Normally, when Peony felt like dancing, Jade ended up being drafted as "bodyguard," though woe betide him if he didn't dance as well.

So used to their presence, the swing club did not react to the duo's entrance. Peony, however, looked around excitedly for the other regulars until his gaze came to rest on familiar red hair.

"Hey, Jade, look! It's Luke! Who's that he's dancing with?"

When Jade looked, his eyes widened slightly; had he been anyone else, he probably would have gaped. "That, Your Majesty, is Noir, of the Black Dream circus and the Dark Wings. Why is Luke _here_, dancing with _her_?"

* * *

Noir must have seen them from her position; Luke was facing the back wall, leaving her with a clear view of the door. Jade would later swear he saw her grin wickedly before her shout of "Oh no! The law's here!" pierced through the band. Given the inherently seedy nature of swing clubs, most of the people inside didn't even look to see who exactly had just entered before rushing out the back door, not giving Jade or Peony a chance to react.

Peony, suddenly deprived of most of the reason he'd come, glanced, all art, over his shoulder at Jade. "We'd better get out of here, then. Wouldn't want any lawmen to see their emperor sneaking around, would we?"

He had very nearly gotten out the door before Jade's hand fell heavily on his shoulder. "Oh, but Your Majesty, we've only just arrived," he said, and spun him in close as the band began to play again. The few new faces left in the club might stare, but Jade would be damned if he let Peony drag him this far and get away with not dancing with _him._


	19. Heart and Diamond

(This one is a little strange, mostly because the timeline for the Keterburg kids is so hard to pin down.)

**47. Heart/48. Diamond**

Peony was a sentimental idiot, as Jade had thought, classifying him dismissively the first time Jade saw him head-over-heels about Nephry. This was only reinforced in the following months and years, when Peony was a constant, gooey presence in their house, only able to hold a decent conversation until Jade's sister walked in. All heart and no brain.

This is by no means accurate, as he first discovered when Peony and Nephry were forcibly separated. The two young men sat in the office of Peony's new apartments in Grand Chokmah. Jade had dreaded coming here, obligated by their friendship but knowing he'd be forced to awkwardly offer his sympathies while wanting nothing more than to punch the crown prince in his overly-emotional face.

Peony had cried, certainly, but, his face still wet with tears, he explained, as much to himself as to an astonished Jade, that his father's reasoning in heeding the nobles was sound, and that he could not allow the empire to suffer by selfishly pursuing his own happiness. Listening to him from a chair at the desk, Jade felt his breath catch, and reevaluated.

* * *

"Damn it! What is my father thinking? I've agreed not to marry for love, so he thinks I'll marry for money?" Peony's pacing sped up as he ranted at Jade, who had commandeered the most comfortable couch in Peony's sitting room.

Peony had only moved back to Grand Chokmah and been forced to break up with Nephry two months before. Immediately upon his arrival, Grand Chokmah's women had started to throw themselves at him and shower him with gifts—from chocolate (which he generally shared with Jade) to diamonds (which he generally lost, if he didn't turn them down). Now the male half of court seemed to have joined in the act of pairing him off. The current Emperor and his advisors had just spent the last three hours going over a list of eligible women and trying to talk him into marrying one of them—mostly promoting the amount of money they all had. Peony was, understandably, pissed.

"I swear, Jade, if they keep this up, I won't get married until _after_ I'm crowned—and then, it will be to a girl twenty years younger than me, common, and in a great deal of debt!"


	20. Taste and Smell

(Agh, sorry, guys. Fanfic productivity is hard on other continents.)

(Slight editing done on Taste… over a year after posting it. Peony's reason for revenge changed. ~Khel)

**39. Taste/36. Smell**

If Jade expected Peony not to get back at him for skipping the banquet last month to do paperwork, leaving Peony intolerably bored and surrounded by sycophantic nobles, then Jade would by highly mistaken. Yes, the past few days—weeks—had been very busy, so there had been no time for pranks. But they'd also been very stressful, and annoying Jade was always Peony's favorite way to relieve stress. And today, he'd thought of the perfect revenge.

Tear Grants had come to town the day before with business from Yulia City, and Guy had flat-out begged her to make the cake she had often made the group on their journey. While Jade had shown no previous interest in sharing a meal with his former traveling companions, he'd invited himself along the moment Tear gave in to Guy's begging. Somehow, Peony had also found himself invited.

Now Jade was thoroughly distracted teasing Guy, after he cringed away from Tear yet again, and no one was watching the Emperor. So no one saw him coat Jade's slice with salt, which blended in with the frosting.

Peony returned to eating his cake to hide his mischievous grin. He couldn't wait to see how Jade reacted once he was no longer too distracted to eat, and actually tasted the cake.

The cake was almost to Jade's lips when the smell of salt gave Peony's trick away. Smiling slightly, he lowered his fork and continued his exchange with Guy.

It was almost twenty minutes before Tear saw that Jade's cake was still untouched. "…Is something wrong?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm sure the cake is delightful as it always is," he replied pleasantly, red eyes sparkling with black purpose. "It's just that His Majesty saw fit to ruin my slice of cake by covering it with salt, so I haven't been able to eat a bite of it."

Tear glared over at Peony, who was trying and failing to look innocent, the anger in her eyes more forceful than even Jade had anticipated at having her cooking wasted. "Your Majesty, why would you do something like that?"

As Peony's protests filled the air, Jade, with the air of one satisfied by a job well done, settled back and helped himself to another, larger, slice.


	21. Inside and Outside

**4. Inside/5. Outside**

"You spend way too much time inside, you know? And your windows aren't even open!" Peony crossed his arms, glaring in mock disgust.

Jade, behind a mountain of research notes, sighed dramatically. "Oh, I wish I could be outside, Your Majesty, but you know my delicate constitution—"

"I can't even_ remember_ the last time you were sick, Jade. Try again."

"You're so mistrustful. How do you know I haven't come down with some terrible disease?"

"I hope you'd tell me something like that. And you still haven't told me why you're shut up in here on such a beautiful day, but I think I know already."

Jade arched his eyebrows. "Do you, now?"

"Of course! I should have seen it from the beginning!" Peony's eyes sparkled in a way that almost edged into leering as he leaned on Jade's desk, scattering papers haphazardly. "You're a boring old man. That's why!"

"Be that as it may, I didn't really think you'd want to bring that up."

"Hm?"

"You're older than I am, after all."

* * *

"Peony, why are you out here right now?" Jade crossed his arms as he stared at the Emperor he had been sent to locate.

Peony blinked up innocently at Jade, never stopping his grooming of the rappig in front of him. "Well, I realized I hadn't spent much time with Nephry lately—" Since, as far as Jade knew, his sister was still in Keterburg, he assumed that meant the rappig was the one named after her. "—so I decided the two of us should come out and watch the water!"

"Why now?"

"It's a beautiful day today! Look at the rippling of the water! Look at those clouds, all white and fluffy! Look at the sun—"

Jade sighed, and silently decided the sun Peony was now waxing poetic about had fried his brain.

"The day's beauty is all well and good, Your Majesty, but the council session was supposed to start an hour ago. Would you please get to work before I have to drag you?"


	22. Broken and Fixed

**A/N:** Sorry about taking so long to update! Real life is hectic.

* * *

**71. Broken/72. Fixed**

Considering how different their opinions and views of it would eventually be, it is interesting to note both Peony and Saphir first encountered fomicry at the same time.

It was at school, before class had started or Professor Nebilim had even shown up in the classroom. Peony was bored and rambunctious, as usual, but, this time, during the process of bouncing around the room, one of the desks Peony leaned against collapsed under him. Peony (along with Saphir and most of the rest of the class) began to panic. Jade, however, sighed, examined the desk, then demanded they take the broken pieces from the room.

As the class watched on in confusion, Jade drew a quick diagram on the floor, pulled a strange little machine from his pocket, muttered under his breath, and suddenly the desk, as it was before Peony broke it, appeared.

Saphir stared at it in awe. "Wow, it's fixed!"

Peony, standing in the doorway, glanced at the pile of desk pieces he had left outside and disagreed. "No. That one was never broken."

* * *

Jade nodded curtly in response. "That's right," he said, his eyes flat and emotionless. "You're quite observant."

Saphir was, of course, beside himself with awe, bombarding Jade with a thousand questions he ignored out of hand. The other students, who had never really liked the boy, edged away, whispering names for him under their breath, but Peony went over to the new desk, inspecting it warily.

"What's it made out of? You can't just pull a desk out of thin air, right?" As he asked, he rapped its surface lightly. It _felt _like wood, but…

"Fonons, one through six. They're in the air all around, you know."

"Not seven?" Peony cocked his head to one side. "What about it?"

Jade's expression darkened. "That one's useless. It's not important."

"What do you mean, 'it's not important'? But it's for healing! Of course it's-"

"Like I said."

Peony could think of no way to respond, and he was more grateful than ever to see Professor Nebilim walk through the door. Her presence always seemed to steady Jade, in a way, not quite mending his awful, broken smile, but burying it deep enough to forget.


	23. Friends and Family

******A/N: **It is our personal headcanon that Jade and Nephry's parents were still alive when Jade was adopted into the Curtiss family, and that it was a Roman-style affair, through which powerful families were able to recruit promising children from more obscure backgrounds**.**

**21. Friends/24. Family**

Jade Balfour had always worked best alone, he thought. Saphir, though ever-present, was only a nuisance to hold him back. His skill with fontech and his willingness to assist on any task were, in Jade's estimation, irrelevant.

Peony, though, was worse. He had none of Saphir's slightly redeeming qualities, and he was overbearing, besides. Whenever he deemed that Jade had been holed up in his lab for too long, he barged in, usually upsetting at least three pieces of equipment, and dragged him outside to play.

Eventually, though, he was forced to acknowledge Peony's persistence, stubborn as the rappigs he adored. He stopped bolting the lab door so strongly, stopped leaving caustic chemicals so close to it in hopes that Peony would spill one on himself and not the glassware this time. At first, he told himself it was only ceding to the inevitable and minimizing collateral damage. Some days, though, when the other boy had been detained by his servants and tutors, Jade missed his interruptions, found himself standing in the snow, feeling rather lost.

He never particularly liked it, and he liked even less to admit it, but when Peony said, easy as breathing, that the two of them were best friends, Jade found it harder and harder to deny that this was true.

* * *

Peony was smart, but he often couldn't understand Jade. Not because Jade was brilliant—which, as the inventor of fomicry and master of the first six fonons, he undoubtedly was—but because of how cold he was to the people around him. It wasn't Jade's coldness to most people that confused him; Peony could admit there were some _idiots_ in their class with Professor Nebilim. No, it was Jade's coldness to his family that confused him. It's not like the Balfour parents were cold or distant—while they did not always approve of the directions in which Jade's research was heading, they were there for him. And Nephry, his sister, thought the world of him, even though she'd admitted to Peony that Jade's lab often featured in her nightmares. But Jade ignored them, and Peony could only wish that he knew his own family as well as he knew Jade's.

Peony was not an only child—he was actually the youngest of the Emperor's three sons. He had the vaguest memories of his parents and oldest brother from his youngest years in Grand Chokmah, and he knew he had to have met his middle brother at his mother's funeral. But he hadn't seen any of them since he'd been sent to Keterburg at six. His only contact with them was the one letter he received every year on his birthday. He longed to know his family and could not understand why Jade would ignore his good fortune and remain so cold to his family.


	24. Purple and Yellow

**A/N: **We're very sorry to have taken this long in updating; there really isn't any sufficient excuse, but we're very grateful to those of you who've stuck with us so far**  
**

**16. Purple/13. Yellow**

Peony knew he deserved it—he _had_ ordered Guy to practice in (and trash) Jade's office, after all—but if Jade thought he was going to get away with sending Peony flying, he had another thing coming. Well, maybe Peony would have let it pass (just calling whatever joke he played next as stress relief "revenge") if he'd only gone across the garden. But no—he ended up flying across the city and finally crashing in Theor Forest. It had taken him hours of arguing to convince the guards that he was actually Peony Upala Malkuth IX, not an incredibly good lookalike claiming to be the Emperor. The only way Peony stayed calm those many frustrating hours was by planning his revenge. After creating—and discarding—many elaborate plans, he came to the conclusion that something entirely juvenile would be the most satisfying. He couldn't wait to find out what Jade's reaction would be to finding purple dye in his shampoo.

* * *

It worked marvelously, turning Jade's hair a deep plum even _he _had to concede was somewhat attractive. Even so, this was an affront he could not allow to pass uncontested. At any rate, though, the hair was there to stay, at least until he could work out an arte to restore it.

General Frings snorted as Jade walked into the conference room. "Curtiss? What on earth happened to you?"

Jade sighed, running a hand through his hair in mostly-fake embarrassment. The two of them were the first to arrive, save Peony, who was only so early by virtue of having had another meeting in the same room just previously. "It is quite noticeable, isn't it? And it doesn't at all match my uniform."

Frings continued to boggle. "Why did you do it, then?"

He laughed softly, and—was that a blush on his cheeks? Peony would have laughed if it weren't so off-putting. As it was, he just felt profoundly uncomfortable. "The truth is," Jade replied, in such a low conspiratorial whisper that Peony had to strain to hear—and immediately regretted doing so. "I did it for His Majesty. He likes it better this way."

The extraordinarily unfortunate general turned beet-red as Peony sputtered incoherently. "You two are—I mean, I've been hearing the rumors for years, but—"

Jade turned to face the emperor. "All true~" he answered, and Peony could almost have handled it, except for the doe-eyes Jade was currently giving him. No man in his thirties should be able to make doe-eyes. _Especially_ not Jade Curtiss.

"Augh!" Peony cried, jumping to his feet and knocking over his chair. "You! Desist!" He shook his head, not least to keep from meeting Jade's gaze for a second longer. "Ugh. Seriously, Jade, that face is disgusting."

He sighed again. "Oh, but I was just being honest..." At this point, Frings bolted from the room.

Defeated, Peony shielded his eyes. "No! Fine, you win!" In a desperate attempt to restore some of his dignity, he straightened and assumed a hopefully-imperial pose. "But the next time I see you, your hair better be back to yellow!"

"I'd hardly call it yellow, but," Jade flicked his hair back, reveling in his victory. "As Your Majesty wishes."


	25. If and And

**82. If/83. And**

Jade had been a skeptic since childhood. Certainly he learned doctrine and Score well enough when he was a teenager, but he never placed any faith in them or allowed them to dictate his life. The Score said nothing of fomicry, for one, which meant that his annual readings were vague at best, and had little to do with his real activity.

Even so, he was occasionally forced to wonder about hypotheticals. Every time he stepped into the audience chamber, the words of the Closed Score sprang unbidden into his mind.

_ND 2018: The Kimlascan army will stain the Malkuth throne_

_with the blood of the last emperor._

Rationally, it was nonsense. Even if the Score had ever held any power over their lives, it was broken now. Peony was—not safe, exactly, but only susceptible to the normal dangers of empire, not some inescapable doom.

But if the Score had not been overthrown, if it persisted… The image of the throne, bloody and empty, was a powerful one, superimposing itself over all Jade's memories of Peony sitting there, slouching or sprawling across it with his legs dangling off one side when he could get away with it.

He'd never tell anyone, least of all Peony, but the turning of the year was such a weight off his shoulders that he kissed him and refused to explain why.

* * *

"…And what is it?" It was the first day of the new year, and when Peony's search for Jade had lead him to the other man's office, Jade had jumped up and kissed him. Well, not jumped, but Peony felt the surprise of Jade initiating anything gave him the right to exaggerate. Especially since Jade only ever initiated things for a reason. "What's the occasion?"

"What do you mean?" Jade was looking entirely too innocent to be believable. Peony laughed and couldn't resist wrapping himself around his colonel, though he still questioned it.

"Jade, I'm not completely stupid. I know you kissed me for a reason. What's up?"

"Not completely stupid? So you finally admit you are stupid, then, Your Majesty?"

"NO! NEVER! That's not what I meant! And you're trying to sidetrack me."

"Why ever would I want to do that?"

"Because… because—" Peony sputtered, "I don't know, that's why I asked you!" But his arguments didn't seem to be working, and Jade was in his arms without protest for once, so when Jade looked like he was about to respond with another sarcastic comment, Peony decided that Jade had the better idea to begin with, and kissed him.


End file.
